Do you have something to share? Group or individual, let The Fountain know what you are up to, using the contacts on p3 and 34.
Riding out the Storm(s) While we all hope there won’t be further storms this year, and perhaps you would all prefer to move on, it is worth reflecting on past events. Where Arwen could be described as unprecedented in recent memory (except for those around in 1953), Malik and Corrie arrived as many communities were only just beginning their resilience planning, and strategies that were under consideration quickly became operational plans. Where the developing resilience groups had yet to formalise working partnerships with other community groups, members of the resilience groups turned their strategies into actions. With power out in all villages surrounding Aboyne from Saturday, Aboyne lost power late Sunday evening, or early Monday morning (for those already fast asleep). In the morning, some may have thought the Community Centre was the place to go for refuge and support, it was in fact the Scout Hut; not that there was time to share this prior to Malik and Corrie arriving, but the Scout Hut crew had begun their preparations following Storm Frank and had the foundations for implementing a strong resilience response. Bernie Cassie and family and the Paper Girls established a hub, Mike Brown wired up their generator and the building had power. With gas fired stoves set up, hot water was available and then, once cooked, a warm soup. With additional food arriving care of Aberdeenshire Council, via a detour to the swimming pool, meals were available and were delivered by Shauna
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A reflection on recent events by Councillor Paul Gibb
Wright and a small team of volunteers to those unable to leave their homes. Thus far this sounds like it was a pretty straight-forward exercise, but it wasn’t. It required a considerable effort through coordination with their personal contacts to seek help, overcoming frustrations with the comms with external agencies, understanding who needed support and where they were, whilst managing their personal situations as everyone including the volunteers had family they needed to care for. The resilience group based in the Scout Hut put in an exhausting 12hour shift, not including the clear-up the following day. At time of writing it cannot be said how many visitors there were to the hub, or recipients of hot meals from a welcome face to see if they were OK, but that so many were is down to the efforts of a very small group, fewer than 10 people, to whom we owe our thanks.
